The Only Thing “TRUE” Here Is A Bad Ad From A PR Firm

It’s no secret that PR firms are looking to branch out into other realms like advertising and content creation. Nothing wrong with that at all, if they bring in the right talent who can help them compete in those areas.

But this ad from PR firm FleishmanHillard is a deceptive one. It’s on the back of this week’s Ad Age, turned upside down to make you think there are articles on the inside. Lots of magazines do that when they want to divide up the content.

Only there are no articles inside. The ad is simply a device to make me go to their online content TRUE section.

Come on, Fleishman. You’ve got the attention of every Ad Age reader here. And the content actually sounds interesting, but I’m put off by this redirection ploy. You can do better than an ad disguised as a fake magazine cover. Something that rings more, um, true would be nice.

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Blogging on AdPulp since 2005, Dan Goldgeier is a Seattle-based freelance copywriter with experience at advertising agencies across the U.S. He is a graduate of the Creative Circus ad school, and currently teaches at Seattle's School of Visual Concepts. In addition, he is a regular columnist for TalentZoo.com. Dan published the best of his TalentZoo.com columns in a book entitled View From The Cheap Seats: A Broader Look at Advertising, Marketing, Branding, Global Politics, Office Politics, Sexual Politics, and Getting Drunk During a Job Interview. Look for it on Amazon in paperback and e-book editions.

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